Saturday, August 18, 2012

Bodyart project: La Calavera Catrina ('The Elegant Skull')






Model : La Calavera Catrina
Photograph : Mantas Puida
Body-art : Shaltmira

I'm interested in body-art for a while. There are several reasons. I still have a wish to became a tattoo artist someday and drawing on body gives a chance to get closer to that, even knowing these don't last long, even if I draw with permanent markers (it might be unhealthy, some says, but it's really handy to do precise lines, so if people don't mind - I use them). On the other hand, it's interesting how human skin is both similar and different at the same moment from canvas or paper. It has this volume that let's you play with composition, since body-parts can spin and move, so there are unlimited amount of design variations available. And also, while working the connection between me and a model is built, it needs to have confidence in between, specially while drawing on naked body. It's kind of intimate process. What else I could say is that, it feels really flattering to see my art on other person's body, I think body-art also gives a great opportunity for other person to pay more attention/to feel art more deeply, since a person always are prone to look closely what she/he has on herself/himself. So it's like win-win. On the other hand, some friend of mine said, he wishes me to do more body-art on myself instead of having more real tattoos, because 'you can change it whenever you want. never stop changing'. this might sound cheeky a bit, but still nicely said.

7 comments:

Edyta Bystroń said...

amazing project! <3

alkbazz said...

Result is really good! You also have a good photographer! What you say about composition remind me prehistoric painting with the use of rock's shapes

I always have been interested by tattoo, like everyone or so, and i realised one on my left hand when i was younger. But after that everyone starts having tattoos, you could see everywhere onto everykind of peoples including ugly stuff. And i can see somekind of challenge in that, actually with the most 'ugly' stuff, art brut etc. Then I know think it's enough

About healthy inks, if you use water based posca, with black carbon ink, i don't think that it could be more dangerous than tattoo's ink

Human Mollusk said...

Yeah, really cool photos! I could totally see people gettig your drawings as tats.

Marcel Ruijters said...

I really like it how you work in your personal style with the Mexican theme. Usually people copy the style as well. And yes, good photography!

Unknown said...

not too crazy about the theme of the Mexican face mask, but overall cool work.

Unknown said...

Yeah, I agree that the theme is quote overused. But this girl's nickname is La Cadavera Catrina and she's really into all that stuff, but since she asked me to do the drawing I thought, how not to be banal and also to match with this symbolic at the same time. It was no hard work, actually, maybe most visible and recognisable thing I did was the 'round eyes', resembling skeleton look. Since I'm naturally interested in drawing freaky little creatures they fitted here as well. Maybe that's the thing, even if you have the task, you need to understand that you don't have to fallow it to strictly. Like speaking about the same thing, just using different words. Now I think I came back to the most common truths :D oh, well

Robert Adam Gilmour said...

I love this sort of stuff, so cool.